Kevin McHale was a smart basketball player, he is a smart man. He knows a good coaching gig when he sees one.

And he sees and wants one — the Chicago Bulls.

The entire city of Chicago just had a chill run up their spine like they walked out of a lakeside building on a windy February day. But we’re not making this up, McHale wants the gig, as he told ESPNChicago.

The former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach said he would like to be considered as one of the possible replacements for the recently fired Vinny Del Negro.

“Of course,” McHale told ESPNChicago.com on Monday night after working Game 4 of the Magic/Hawks series for TNT. “You go in there and talk to [Bulls general manager] Gar [Forman]. I know Gar and John Paxson real well. And hopefully if it’s the right fit, it’s the right fit. That’s what you’re looking for and that’s what they’re looking for. They’re looking for the right fit…

“You got to wait and see,” he said. “But I think Chicago is a great job. Derrick Rose, love him. Taj Gibson, love him. Joakim Noah, love him. You’ve got Kirk Hinrich, love him. They’re tough guys, they play really hard and they get after it defensively and I think they’re all just going to get better.”

McHale’s right, this is a plum job. Best one on the market this summer. But his phone has not rung yet, and it’s not likely to.

McHale’s coaching experience consists of two partial seasons behind the bench in Minnesota, where he was also the guy running basketball operations in the front office. The most recent of those came when he fired their coach and was given the “you built this squad, you coach it” poetic irony job. Didn’t go well.

Plus, the Bulls have said they want playoff coaching experience, and McHale has none.

Bulls fans can relax, he’s not likely to get the job. And we get it, you want better names to come forward. But until some names you do like start popping up, you’re going to see more of this. Enjoy.

McHale the GM: God awful. McHale the coach: Pretty good coach of a young team with not a lot of assets. He was good at teaching his bigs low post moves. Jefferson’s injury kind of derailed that though.